Stephanie de Montalk

Stephanie de Montalk
Born1945 (age 79–80)
OccupationPoet
LanguageEnglish
NationalityNew Zealander
Alma materWellington Hospital, Victoria University of Wellington
GenrePoetry
Notable awardsNZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book for Poetry; Nigel Cox Award
Website
www.stephaniedemontalk.co.nz

Stephanie de Montalk (born 1945) is a poet and biographer from New Zealand.

Background

Born in 1945, in New Zealand, de Montalk grew up in the Far North and Wellington.[1] She trained at Wellington Hospital School of Nursing and received and MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington. She has worked as a nurse, documentary filmmaker, and from 1996–2002 member of the New Zealand Film and Literature Board of Review.[2][3][4]

Works

Published works by de Montalk include:

  • Five Poems (1989, chapbook), poetry
  • Animals Indoors (2000, Victoria University Press), poetry
  • The Scientific Evidence of Dr Wang (2002, Victoria University Press), poetry
  • Cover Stories (2005, Victoria University Press), poetry
  • The Fountain of Tears (2006, Victoria University Press), historical novel
  • Vivid Familiar (2009, Victoria University Press), poetry

de Montalk has also published in various literary journals including Landfall, Southerly, London Magazine, and New Zealand Listener.[4] Her poems have also been published in the 2005 the Best New Zealand Poems series.[5]

In 2001, she published a biography of her second-cousin Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk entitled, Unquiet World: The Life of Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk.[6][4]

Following an accident in 2003, de Montalk's writing has often explored concepts of isolation and exile.[2] In her 2014 creative nonfiction work, How Does It Hurt? she explores ideas around chronic pain, both her own and the experiences of other writers.[7][8]

In 2007, an engraving of her poem, Violinist at the Edge of an Ice Field was erected at the Franz Josef Glacier visitor centre.[4]

Awards

In 1997, while studying at the Victoria University of Wellington de Montalk was a joint winner of the Original Composition prize.[4][2] Also in 1997, her short story 'The Waiting' was a joint winner of the Novice Writers' Award in the Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Short Story Awards.[4][3]

In 2001 her collection Animals Indoors won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book for Poetry at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards.[9]

In 2006 she was the Victoria University of Wellington Writer in Residence.[10]

How Does It Hurt? won the Nigel Cox Award from Unity Books in 2015.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Profile". Stephanie de Montalk. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Stephanie de Montalk". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Stephanie de Montalk". New Zealand Society of Authors & Writers Association. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Stephanie de Montalk". New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Best New Zealand Poems 2005". victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  6. ^ de Montalk, Stephanie (2001). Unquiet World: The Life of Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk. Victoria University Press. ISBN 9780864734143.
  7. ^ Chapman, Wallace (9 November 2014). "Stephanie de Montalk - Hurts Like Hell". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  8. ^ de montalk, Stephanie (2014). How Does It Hurt?. Victoria University Press. ISBN 9780864739698.
  9. ^ "Past Winners by Author". New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Writer in Residence". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Stephanie de Montalk Receives Nigel Cox Award". Unity Books. Retrieved 22 November 2017.

Official website